Man Above Town Honors the Father of Balloon Fiesta

March 31, 2022 - Most locals know the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta® got its start when KOB Radio approached Albuquerque resident Sid Cutter about inflating his hot air balloon at its 50th anniversary celebration. Instead, he proposed a balloon race. The rest, as they say, is history. But fewer people may know who Sid Cutter was as a person. A new exhibition at the Anderson Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum, Sid Cutter: Man Above Town, gives visitors an insight into Sid Cutter’s life both in and outside of hot air ballooning. The exhibition opens to the public on Friday, April 8.

“Today, Albuquerque is home to one of the world’s most beautiful spectacles and to a global community of pilots and ballooning enthusiasts because of Sid’s vision,” said Mayor Tim Keller. “Our city is changed for the better by our dreamers and community builders, and Sid will always be a legend among them.”

The exhibition draws on photos and personal items from the Sid Cutter Estate, as well as interviews with the people who knew Sid, to show another side of the “Father of Balloon Fiesta.” Visitors can also see the Olympic torch that Sid carried in his hot air balloon in in Albuquerque in 2002.

The opening of Man Above Town coincides with this year's 50th anniversary of the very first Balloon Fiesta which took place near Coronado Center with 13 balloons.